Celebrating 7

Our sweet Asher is seven! He told his sister today, "Your brother is not a little boy anymore. He is growing into a young man." He later questioned me, "If I ask Winter and she says it's o.k., then can I call her butt-brain?" Growing up is little steps forward and little steps back, I suppose.

We had the Nottingham family out from Indiana to celebrate with us. They all slept at our new place, fourteen people total...all sleeping in beds! We all journeyed downtown to a Cardinals game minus the two-and-under crowd. Sorry no pictures.

Emma trying out our popular rope swing. It is a campus favorite.

New skate board and armor (as Asher refers to it). This picture is not a testimony to his skill level.

We invited all the neighborhood ninjas to celebrate.

We made our first ever pinata.

The exploding volcano cake!It is easy to draw a crowd of kids any Saturday afternoon on a seminary campus.

Still Lifes

I love to just watch my children get completely lost in what they are doing. They work recklessly with no worry of mistakes.

The somebody decides to eat the finger paint.

Lake Erie with Best Friends

Asher and I got to spend time with our best friends. We crashed the Ford Family Vacation in Vermilion, Ohio. It was such a gift. Jeff took the girls back to St. Louis while Asher and I headed to the lake.

hoping for that perfect wave!

our charming boys!

I wish I had a picture of me a Sue. We are lucky to have some of the boys since I am not sure we stopped talking for five days! It was a priceless time together.

Snuggling Sisters

Violet loves to give good night hugs and kisses and thinks it is hilarious when I pretend to put her in bed to sleep with her sister.

Keeping Busy

These are a little out of order (we are still in the apartment), but they really capture Violet's dynamite-comes-in-small-packages personality. This answers the question of what Violet does during home school. I often wonder if we are giving Asher ADD :)

Asher and Winter are all about keeping their crazy little sister safe. Here is something they rigged up so she can sit at the big table and color "without risk of injury".

The Butterfly House

We visited the Butterfly House at Faust Park. The conservatory displays 60 different species of butterflies in free flight! They are everywhere! You often need to dodge them. There is a strict no touch policy...try that with a 6, 4 and 1 year old. Later, we had a picnic in the park. Violet was very taken with the "dogs".

32 Balcon Estates St. Louis, MO

We have moved! We are now living in an amazing house that the seminary owns. We are still on campus, but have a ton of space. You really must see it to believe it. This is the only picture I snapped on moving day. I''ll try to post some pictures of the house soon.

Hummus Among Us

Violet loves hummus. She doesn't want crackers or pita just a spoon. Maybe this is because I ate so much of it when she was in-utero. It is a family favorite, but she is over the top!

This is her I-can-smile face.